Larry had a lump in his body.
Larry was a staff and visitor favorite at the Point Defiance Zoo. The fish had a punk-rock look and was rumored to hold grudges against aquarists who had fallen into his disfavor. He had two sets of jaws and a lot of teeth, which he would use to eat fish.
A pink growth was found on the roof of his mouth after he stopped eating.
They thought the broken tooth might be the reason for Larry's oral troubles. The lump disappeared when they took it out, and the animal started eating again. Anderson said that he was feeling better. I was happy to hear that we had this behind us.
Dr. Anderson was worried that Larry might have a bigger tumor in his skull after the mass of cells grew back. She said that a person in their 30's might need to be euthanized because of an aggressive cancer.
If the mass extended into Larry's bones, he would need to have aCT Scan. To get Larry out of the water and into a fancy piece of medical equipment, zoo employees have to ferry him to a veterinary hospital across town, which is a difficult task. Dr. Anderson stated that saltwater does not play well with electronics. They would need to be careful, they would need to be quick, and they would need to remember the baking soda.
Here is how they did it.
Good water management is one of the factors that affect fish transportation. The water temperature and oxygen levels were adjusted for Larry. You don't have all that life support when you transport him.
The staff at the zoo loaded Larry, a warm-water fish, into a big plastic tub in the back of a heated van and took him to the veterinary referral center. They took him to the hospital and put him in a cooler.
Larry was still active in the water. The veterinary team had to make him immobile to make sure he didn't hurt himself or the device. According to Dr. Anderson, a person can be told to hold still when they go through a computed tomograph. I can't hold on anymore.
They put a powdered anesthetic in the water. The drug works quickly but also causes the water to become acidic. Baking soda was added to keep the pH stable.
Larry was under a few minutes later. The employees of the zoo held him in a wet towel to protect his skin and spine from the elements. The long animals are prone to back problems. They put him in a shallow plastic bin that was familiar to college students. Those Tupperwares can be slid under your bed. The doctor said that.
The staff members tried to put Larry in a container. It's important to not have things all folded up when you do aCT. The eels were too long to be straight.
Dr. Anderson used a rubber catheter to get more water onto Larry's body. She said that they could do surgery on fish out of the water if they got their gills perfused with water. It's similar to putting a breathing tube in a person.
They put the plastic bin into the doughnut-shape scanner, which bombarded the eel with X-rays from multiple angles, and generated detailed images of Larry's internal anatomy.
It was good to see that Larry's lump did not look like cancer. The veterinarians were able to look at the images immediately, but the radiologist needed some time to finish her report.
The team put Larry in a cooler filled with warm water. Within a few minutes, he had corrected himself and was moving again. He took a ride home in a heated vehicle.
Dr. Anderson successfully removed the rogue mass from Larry Gordon's mouth with the help of the computed tomography scans. She said that the image of the eel's sinuous skeleton has become a beautiful souvenir and that the zoo could display it. Dr. Anderson thinks it would be great to show visitors a 3-D reconstruction of the eel.
The image could be Larry's legacy, teaching visitors about the amazing body of an animal even after it is dead.
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